VOTE CANVASSING AND THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION

The Sassy Lawyer and Dean Jorge Bocobo have some interesting commentary on the canvassing of presidential votes in the Philippines here and here. And as the federal election commission informed the media (unofficially) that Arroyo is the likely winner in the presidential race, some have raised complaints that the commission has undermined congress's constitutional authority to announce the official election results. See here.

PS: Via this article at Minda News, note also the role of the Supreme Court in electoral disputes, as outlined by the Philippine Constitution:

But under Article VII, Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution, “the Supreme Court, sitting en banc, shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of the President or Vice President, and may promulgate its rules for the purpose.”

The 1935 and 1973 Constitutions were silent on what body has jurisdiction to judge presidential and vice presidential election contests. The 1987 Constitution specifically mandates the Supreme Court to be “the sole judge.”

Ah, the virtues of clarity. I don't want to overstate the case, but from the perspectives of the losers in a presidential dispute decided by the Supreme Court, it's probably better to have a clear constitutional mandate for Supreme Court intervention than to have murky, traditional, or ad hoc Supreme Court authority.